Running with the pace of life is fast
Journeys taken without concern or care
Words used and carelessly abandoned
Targets and deadlines replaced there.
Among the burgeoning piles of file-paper
The overflowing nature of our lives
Where mindfulness becomes one extra chore
And our mental well-being's in demise.
Did it really take a global situation
To make us stop and take a different path
To see beyond our own limitations
To a different perception that was stark?
In every sense our freedom was clean taken
Overnight the challenge made quite clear
To stop or simply be over-taken
By the warnings given and of course by fear.
And so quite simply we were shaken
and everything quickly reassessed
In every home spread across the nations
Priorities that had to be addressed
Management of time became our own
To choose a little wisely than before
In the slow lane running - a different tempo
To listen and observe and gain far more.
Joy is found abundantly in wildlife
When we chance to stop awhile and look
To see how nature heals and restores
The balance of our lives so over-looked
Running, swimming out by sea or moorland
Birdsong and the colours of the skies
Consciousness of elemental beauty
Powerful healing for our lives.
Ruth Partridge 